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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cue — a signal
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cue — for pool
  13. current — electric
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. current — happening now
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. current — of water
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chair — a professorship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com